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Billy Joel gets down with Rock Band 3

Billy Joel decided to authorise songs for the Rock Band 3 videogame because of The Office and a smarmy critic.

The third installment of the popular music game will be released in a week.

Piano man Billy Joel is taking advantage of the addition of keyboards to the instrument list by offering a selection of his songs for download.

It's the first time he's allowed his songs to be used in a game, but it wasn't out of magnanimity or for the money; he did it to piss off a critic.

An Entertainment Weekly review of the TV show The Office mentioned a joke in the show where a character talks about Rock Band featuring songs by Billy Joel, with the critic mocking the idea.Joel told USA Today, 'The critic wrote something like, 'God forbid that ever should happen.' So I called my people and said, 'Get me (on) that Rock Band game.' Then I wrote the critic, saying that every time I get a check, I'll give him a little nod.'